VN News (May 7, 1997)

[Vu Thanh Ca <vuca@envi.env.civil.saitama-u.ac.jp>]

May 07: Thai fishermen rescued in Vietnamese waters, Hanoi says 
May 07: Net widens around police in Vietnam drugs scandal 
May 07: Hanoi says U.S., Vietnam must try harder on ties 
May 07: Vietnamese corruption trial set for late May: report 
May 07: Biggest drug trafficking ring trial in Hanoi: Jury questions
defendants about fuel tank
May 07: Milestones in US-Vietnamese relations since 1975 
May 07: Fame comes late to capturer of US Hanoi ambassador Peterson 
May 07: US ambassador's arrival symbol of stronger Vietnam relations 


Thai fishermen rescued in Vietnamese waters, Hanoi says 

Hanoi (dpa) - Eight Thai fishermen, floating adrift for several days,
were rescued earlier this week off of Vietnam's southern coast,
officials said Wednesday but there were conflicting accounts of what
caused the mishap.

An official in the Thai consultate in Ho Chi Minh City said the
fishermen were reported to be in good health and that preparations
were underway for them to be sent home.

Although plucked from Vietnamese waters Vietnam was treating this as a
``humantarian matter not as a case of illegal fishing,'' said the Thai
official who requested not to be identified. .

The issue of seized fishermen in disputed waters has been an constant
irritant in bilateral relations for several years although there has
been recent progress in resolving the conflict.

Five fishermen were rescued were rescued last Friday while the
remaining three were found Monday struggling to stay afloat near Khaoi
Island 15 kilometres off the coast of Cau Mau province, a Vietnamese
official said.

``They said they were raided by Thai pirates but we are still
investigating the case,'' said Nguyen Van Ba, director of the Ca Mau
Marine Resource Protection Center in a telephone interview.

``Thai priates attacking Thai fishermen, I have never heard that kind
of story before.... frankly I doubt that version,'' said the Thai
consulate official.

He said Ca Mau provincial officials had already informed him that the
boat's pump broke and that the boat had sunk.

But Ba said that one fisherman in the first group was still in the
boat when it was found and that it had been towed into a small fishing
port at Rach Goc but that it had been stripped of valuables.

The Thai official said it would take about a week to complete the
formalities necessary to visit their nationals being treated at a
hospital in Tran Van Thoi district.

Stripping of Thai fishing boats that have been seized by Vietnamee
officials is standard practice, other Thai officials have said, and
usually the fishermen have been held until large ``fines'' have been
paid.

A last group of roughly one hundred Thai fishermen, held by Vietnamese
officials, were returned home in early February and recently the two
countries agreed to jointly patrol disputed waters in the Gulf of
Thailand.

Diplomats from the two countries are currently meeting in Hanoi to
work out maritime issues and ways to boost economic ties.
                 ___________________________________


Net widens around police in Vietnam drugs scandal 

Hanoi (Reuter) - Three more police officers have been drawn into a
widening net around Vietnam's biggest drug ring, media reports said on
Wednesday as the trial of state security officials, border guards and
others entered its fifth day.

Official dailies were packed with details of how the syndicate
operated for years, smuggling heroin from the notorious Golden
Triangle region, and even how one of the accused tried to dash his
brains out against the wall of a prison cell.

But there was no word yet on whether the key defendant had made good
on a promise to expose ``some very important people'' during the
closed-door hearing.

Altogether 22 people, half of them police officers or border guards,
are in the dock. The presiding judge in the case has said that more
than 10 of them could be sentenced to death.

The Lao Dong newspaper said on Wednesday that Bui Trong Kim, captain
of the security police force in the border province of Lai Chau, was
detained after he tried to snatch a scrawled message from one of the
defendants outside the court.

``This happened in the wink of an eye, but before the man caught Vu
Phong Ma's piece of paper, police snatched it and he was immediately
arrested and detained for investigation,'' it said.

That led to the arrest of two other senior officers in Lai Chau, which
has increasingly been used as a route for smuggling opium and heroin
from remote corners of Laos, Thailand and Burma.

The roots of the scandal date back to January 1995 when two Laotian
nationals were arrested in Vietnam after they were found in possession
of 15 kg (33 pounds) of heroin.

One of the men, Sieng Pheng, earned a last minute reprieve from
execution after offering information which later led to the arrest of
40 people.

Pheng said heroin concealed in his car was just part of his delivery
and that more had been hidden in a false bottom of the car's fuel
tank.

Five police officers investigating the case were charged with stealing
the consignment after a subsequent examination of the fuel tank found
it empty. Among them were Vu Xuan Truong, a former captain in the
Interior Ministry's anti-crime unit and prime suspect in the
trafficking ring.

Voice of Vietnam radio said on Wednesday that most of the defendants
continued to plead not guilty to the main charges against them.

However, some seem resigned to their fate.

Truong has already said he expects to face the firing squad and has
offered to name names in return for the lives of his wife and brother,
who are also on trial, being spared. Both he and a police driver have
tried to commit suicide in their cells.

Dozens of people have hung around outside the court since the 10-day
trial got under way last Friday, gossiping about the case and buying
copies of newspaper accounts of the scandal.

The trial is the latest in a series of high-profile demonstrations by
the communist government that it is serious about tackling drug crimes
and endemic corruption.

Twenty-five officials are due to go on trial in coming weeks for an
alleged multi-million-dollar scam at Nam Dinh Textiles, one of the
country's oldest and best-known state-owned firms.
                 ___________________________________


Hanoi says U.S., Vietnam must try harder on ties 

Hanoi (Reuter) - Two days before the arrival of Washington's first
ambassador in Hanoi, Vietnam's prime minister has called for both
countries to try harder for better relations.

Official media reports said on Wednesday that Premier Vo Van Kiet, in
a meeting with departing U.S. Charge d'Affaires Desaix Anderson, said
he ``wanted to see greater efforts by both Vietnamese and U.S.
governments to boost bilateral relations.''

Anderson is due to be replaced on Friday by Douglas ``Pete'' Peterson,
who will become the first U.S. ambassador to Vietnam.

Hanoi and Washington established full diplomatic relations in 1995, 20
years after the Vietnam War which ended with the Communist victory
over U.S.-backed forces.

But the two former foes have made slow progress on full economic
normalisation since then and mutual suspicion remains a problem.

The United States has provided Hanoi with a draft trade accord which
would lead to most favoured nation (MFN) trading status for Vietnam.

However, Hanoi has baulked at some of the demands made by Washington,
saying it is not ready to liberalise fully its trade and investment
regimes.

Kiet thanked Anderson for his contribution to taking the relationship
forward during his 20 months as charge d'affaires and noted the two
countries' goodwill ``to close the past and look forward to the
future.''

He added that the appointment of former Vietnam War veteran and prison
of war Peterson was proof that Washington was now paying more
attention to improving ties with Hanoi.
                 ___________________________________


Vietnamese corruption trial set for late May: report

HANOI (AFP) - A corruption trial of more than 25 people allegedly
involved in embezzling 40 million dollars from a Vietnamese
state-owned firm will begin late this month, reports said Wednesday.

Senior officials from state-owned Nam Dinh Textile Company are charged
with embezzling while ministry officials and banking executives are
suspected of receiving bribes in the widespread scandal, the Lao Dong
newspaper said.

Investigators from the Ministry of Interior contend executives of Nam
Dinh paid up to 500,000 in bribes to government officials and bankers.

Officials from the finance, industry and tax collection agencies will
also stand trial.

The Nam Dinh case comes on the heels of several high-profile
corruption scandals this year.

In March, four people received the death penalty in the 40 million
dollar Tamexco trial, the nation's largest graft case.

In another case, officials at Minh Phung Garment Co. and EPCO Trading
Co. were arrested earlier this year for allegedly defrauding
state-owned banks of millions of dollars.

According to one report, Nguyen Duy Kiem, former general director of
the Nam Dinh, allegedly misappropriated funds and then paid off
employees to conceal the losses he incurred at the company.

Two of his deputy general directors and his chief accountant were
accused of producing false accounting reports, embezzling socialist
properties and intentionally violating regulations on economic
management.

Also among those charged were Nguyen Van De, former geneneral director
of Vietnam's largest commercial bank, Vietcombank, who had already
been sentenced to four years in jail in for his role in the Tamexco
case.

Earlier reports said that the company, which is now on the brink of
bankruptcy, had defaulted on debts of nearly 25 million dollars.

Corruption at the textile factory revealed last year forced thousands
of workers out of their jobs, and has provoked widespread public
outrage.
                 ___________________________________


Biggest drug trafficking ring trial in Hanoi: Jury questions
defendants about fuel tank

HANOI (SGT) -- The panel of judges on Monday questioned 22 defendants
implicated in the country's biggest drug trafficking ring about the
reconnaissance plan to locate other suspects.

Defendants Vu Thuong Kiet, Do Tuan Anh and Nguyen Thi Lua (wife of Vu
Xuan Truong) confessed that they had helped lead defendant Truong
steal the heroin on the evening of February 24, 1995.

Kiet said that Truong asked him to watch the car so that Anh could
take out the drugs concealed in a false bottom of the fuel tank. But
Anh said that it was Kiet who opened the fuel tank cap.

Anh admitted that Truong had given him US$3,500, including US$1,500
for Anh to buy a motorbike.

Defendant Vu Huu Chinh, former police major with Office 8, the
Economic Police Department in the Interior Ministry, admitted that he
and Truong mapped out the reconnaissance plan.

Truong volunteered to park the car in which the drugs were concealed
after he pointed at a "suspected" motorbike passing by, Chinh said,
adding that after cursing, Truong invited him to a restaurant for a
beer.

Chinh said Truong told him after drinking at the restaurant that the
drugs were hidden in the car. But Truong said he had thrown the heroin
away due to low quality, Chinh told the court, adding he knew Truong
had attempted to take the drugs out without telling the leadership of
the police.

A prosecutor said although Chinh previously reported the drug
trafficking ring organized by Vu Xuan Truong and Dao Xuan Xe, he now
refused to say anything more about the case.

Chinh, who received US$2,300 from Truong, said he had been tricked
into the case.

Asked about the theft of the drugs, Truong affirmed that was the
reconnaissance plan. However, after the panel of judges showed him the
confessions of Kiet, Anh and Chinh, Truong partly confessed his guilt.
                 ___________________________________


Milestones in US-Vietnamese relations since 1975 

HANOI (AFP) - The arrival on Friday of the first US ambassador to
Hanoi, Douglas "Pete" Peterson crowns a process of reconciliation more
than 22 years after the end of the Vietnam War. Here are the major
dates:

1975: April 30 - The last Americans leave Saigon as the city falls to
northern troops, marking the end of the Vietnam War. The US declares
an economic embargo against the Hanoi communist regime.

1977-78: Initial negotiations on normalisation of relations with
Washington which end inconclusively in October 1978.

1978: Vietnam invades Cambodia. US steps up pressure on Vietnam and
tacitly encourages Chinese border invasion into Vietnam in February
1979.

1982: US and Vietnam agree to hold four meetings a year to discuss
problems of US soldiers Missing in Action (MIA). Schedule of meetings
is frequently disrupted by both sides and little progress is made on
the issue.

1991: April 9 - United States presents "roadmap" of ways to improve
relations with Vietnam. Demand completion of Cambodian peace agreement
and improved access to areas of Vietnam to search for MIAs.

1992: December 14 - US president George Bush, in the first easing of
the sanctions, allows American firms to open representative office in
Vietnam and to sign contracts which would become effective with the
lifting of the embargo.

1993: July 2 - US President Bill Clinton authorises the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) to refinance the Vietnamese debt, opening
Vietnamese access to multilateral funding after 18 years of isolation.

September 14 - Clinton relaxes the embargo to allow US firms to
participate in World Bank and IMF projects.

1994: February 4 - The embargo is officially lifted, clearing the way
for US businesses to come to Vietnam.

December 10 - US and Vietnam reach agreement on asset claims of around
half a billion dollars. Former South Vietnamese bank accounts in the
United States unfrozen.

1995: January 28 - Vietnam and the United States sign two agreements
marking the establishment of their first government to government ties
in 41 years.

February 8 - The Stars and Stripes flies in Hanoi at the US Liaison
Office after a brief ceremony aimed at being as low key as possible to
avoid offending parts of the MIA lobby in the United States angered by
the improvement in relations.

July 11 - Clinton announces establishment of complete diplomatic
relations with Hanoi

August 5 - Secretary of State Warren Christopher officially opens the
US embassy in Hanoi, while Vietnamese embassy opens in Washington, 20
years after the end of the war and nearly half a century after
Vietnam's declaration of independence.

1996: May 24 - Clinton names Douglas "Pete" Peterson to become first
US ambassador to Hanoi.

1997: April 7 - US Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin visits Vietnam and
signs an accord to reschedule 140 million dollars of debt owed by the
former South Vietnamese government.

April 10 - US Senate confirms appointment of Peterson as first
ambassador to Hanoi

April 14 - US government agrees to Hanoi's appointment of Le Van Bang
as ambassador to Washington

May 9 - Peterson's planned arrival in Hanoi
                 ___________________________________


Fame comes late to capturer of US Hanoi ambassador Peterson 

By Frederik Balfour

An Doai Village, Vietnam (AFP) - When Nguyen Viet Chop went looking
for survivors of downed US aircraft here nearly 31 years ago, he never
dreamt it would one day make him a celebrity.

But he has become just that. Ever since Douglas "Pete" Peterson was
nominated as the first US ambassador to Hanoi last August, the man who
found him crumpled beneath a lone mango tree on the night of September
9, 1966 here has become the focus of a media assault.

Recently overseas and local journalists toting notepads and television
cameras have put 70-year-old Chop in the spotlight. But the publicity
has not gone to his head.

In fact, the tiny two-room farmhouse he built after the war does not
even have a television. Chop makes tea for a visitor with leaves he
keeps in a sawn-off Coca-cola can, the only evidence of America in a
quintessentially traditional Vietnamese rural home.

"I'm not the only one to capture a US pilot during the war. It was
nothing special. I just performed a simple deed," he told AFP from his
home in northern Hai Huong Province.

Lucky for Peterson, who arrives in Hanoi to take up his ambassadorial
post on Friday, it was Chop who found him first.

Peterson was flying his 67th bombing mission, and the target that
night was the railway line northeast of Hanoi. But bad weather and a
direct hit by a north Vietnamese anti-aircraft missile gun sent his
plane careering to the earth. Captain Peterson and his co-pilot
Bernard Talley bailed out.

Peterson landed atop the only tree in a vast rice field, breaking his
leg, arm and shoulder. Unable to walk, Peterson told his co-pilot to
flee on his own.

Meanwhile Chop, Nguyen Danh Xinh and a third villager Nguyen Danh
Xuyen set off in search of survivors, and finally spied Peterson's
parachute in the tree.

Armed with a rifle containing only four rounds, Chop remembers
approaching Peterson.

"I could hear him breathing heavily and moaning, but I wasn't scared,"
he explained while pointing out the spot in a vast rice field to a
visitor. The three rushed Peterson from different directions and
pounced on him, ready to shoot if he made a false move.

Acting according to army procedure -- the three men were part of the
civilian militia -- they removed Peterson's shoes and flight suit and
walked him back to An Doai village, Peterson hobbling on one leg for
more than a kilometer (two-thirds of a mile).

Word of his capture spread fast, and by the time the trio reached the
village with their prisoner, the villagers had whipped themselves into
a fury.

"People chased us and wanted to beat him in revenge for their lost
relatives. But because of humanity and goodwill we protected him,"
said Chop, recalling the American was twice his size.

Peterson was locked inside a rice storage hut attached to a building
which now serves as the village meeting hall for the Communist party,
Chop recalls. Talley was captured the next morning and the two were
sent to Hanoi, where they would remain as prisoners of war for nearly
six and a half years, including time in the notorious Hoa Lo "Hanoi
Hilton" prison.

They were freed in 1973 and returned to the United States. Peterson
served in the air force until 1981, then ran a computer business and
eventually became a Democratic Congressman for the State of Florida.
Today Talley is still flying planes as a commercial pilot for United
Airlines.

Today the "Hilton" has given way to a brand new high-rise, but An Doai
looks much the same, except for a memorial built after the war to
commemorate the 167 people who died fighting. Chop still farms rice
and gets around on a bicycle, and says his life did not change much
until last August when the first western journalist showed up asking
about Peterson.

"I never knew his name. Before he was just an enemy who bombed us
during the war. But now he's ambassador and relations are so
different. I would be happy to cook him a meal if he decides to come
here," he says.

Peterson's name is still not familiar to most people here, though some
are getting used to reporters.

A woman working near where Peterson was captured had never heard of
him, but when asked if she knew any Americans her face lit up
underneath her conical hat.

"I know Mr Jason. He's a TV who came here," she beamed.
                 ___________________________________


US ambassador's arrival symbol of stronger Vietnam relations 

By Frederik Balfour

HANOI (AFP) - The arrival on Friday of US Ambassador Douglas "Pete"
Peterson in Hanoi is seen by analysts as an important step by the two
former enemies to forge stronger economic as well as strategic ties.

"The two countries have laid the basis for solid relations across the
board. They want dialogues in education, science, technology, and the
military," said one Western diplomat.

"But they can do better than that and have a strategic partnership.
Both countries want that," he added.

As one of the last communist regimes, Hanoi shed its isolationist skin
and pursued an ambitious diplomatic initiative following the collapse
of the former Soviet Union in 1991.

Normalising diplomatic relations with the United States in 1995 was a
key success within a broader policy of global integration, analysts
say, noting its successful policy of diversification including
membership into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN),
and preparations to join the World Trade Organisation.

One former state department official now doing business in Hanoi
warned that the United States should take care in how it approaches
its relations with Vietnam.

"The core of Vietnamese foreign policy, not just vis-a-vis China but
in general, is a diversification of relationships," he added.

If the United States is seen as a bridge between Vietnam and the
international community, there is no better person than Peterson to
symbolize the new relationship between the two former enemies.

As a former prisoner of war who spent more than six years imprisoned
in Hanoi, including time in the infamous "Hanoi Hilton", Peterson
brings to the job stirling credentials.

"With his background, he will have a forum whenever he choses to speak
either to Americans or Vietnamese," said Sesto Vecchi, an American
lawyer who returned to work in Saigon after leaving at the end of the
war.

"Every message will carry the certain knowledge that here is a former
prisoner who has returned to the belly of the beast," he added.

Peterson's desire "not to live in the past" was a strong factor in
resuming ties two decades after the end of a bitter conflict in which
three million Vietnamese and nearly 60,000 Americans died.

Peterson has said full accounting of the 1,589 American GIs still
listed as missing in action (MIA) from the war will be his top
priority. Indeed the legacy of the war still affects every debate in
Washington about Vietnam.

Also high on his agenda is pushing ahead with a bilateral trade
agreement that would pave the way for most favoured nation status,
giving Vietnam access to the huge US market.

"He understands better than anybody the MIA issue, but his main
concern will be moving ahead economically," said the Hanoi
businessman.

The Vietnamese hope Peterson's arrival in Hanoi, will help speed
progress on the economic front. Ratification of the sweeping accord
which the two sides will meet to discuss in Washington in a few weeks,
could be as much as two years off.

Said one lawyer familiar with the draft, "they are miles apart."

But trade negotiators as well as State Department officials in
Washington have made clear that progress on the trade agreement will
depend on Vietnam's human rights record, a potential source of
friction with the United States.

A human rights report issued in Washington earlier this year said
Vietnam's record on human rights remained poor and its government
imposed strict limits on political and religious freedoms, provoking a
stinging attack from the official communist Nhan Dan newspaper.

Last month during Peterson's inauguration, the State Department also
put Hanoi on notice Peterson will press Washington's view that human
rights should be upheld by the Vietnamese government.

"We encourage US investment in Vietnam but it is still a communist
country," a spokesman said.

In March Admiral Joseph Prueher, US Commander in Chief of the Pacific
Command said during a visit to Hanoi the two sides were working
towards "a nascent military-to-military relationship."